Senior Lecturer (Scholarship)
- Overview
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Reverend Dr KENNETH JEFFREY Contact Details
- Telephone
- work +44 (0)1224 274276
- ksjeffrey@abdn.ac.uk
- Address
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The University of Aberdeen
KCF2
Kings College
Old Aberdeen
AB24 3UB
Scotland, UK
- Web Links
Web Links
Here, below, is the web link to a series of recordings of lectures I delivered on Pastoral Care at a conference organised by the Church of Scotland at Dufermline in June 2017.http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/resources/learn/events/content/pastoral_care_conference_2017
Here, are links to an interview I gave to one of my colleagues, Dr Leon Van Ommen, on Sacramental Theology.
Pt1 https://abdn.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=a95c8bd9-eda2-4d0e-bab3-aa0900f5daeb
Pt2 https://abdn.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=9747afbf-4d96-47fb-b168-aa0900f40097
Biography
Born in Northern Ireland and brought up in Holywood where he attended Sullivan Upper School, Ken Jeffrey went to Stirling University in 1988 where he studied History with Professor David Bebbington.
After graduating, he went to Malawi where he taught English and Bible Knowledge for two years at Livingstonia Secondary School.
In 1994, he returned to Aberdeen University where he gained a first class honours BD. Ken undertook post graduate studies with David Bebbington and studied the 1859 Revival as it affected the communities of north east Scotland. He was awarded his PhD in 2000 and his thesis was published by Paternoster under the title When the Lord walked the land.
Between 2000 and 2002, he served as a Probationary Minister at Rubislaw Parish Church in Aberdeen, before he was ordained and inducted as minister of The Parish Church of Cupar Old and St Michael of Tarvit in Fife where he served for almost twelve years. During this time, he undertook further studies at Aberdeen University and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and was awarded a DMin degree.
In January 2014 he was appointed as the new Director of the Centre for Ministry Studies at Aberdeen University. The CMS has nurtured an innovative working relationship between the academy and the church and provides education and training for people involved in Christian ministry at home and abroad through a suite of undergraduate and postgraduate courses and a calendar of annual activities and events.
Ken has also created a collaborative partnership between Aberdeen University and Zomba Theological College in Malawi where he delivers the MTh Ministry Studies course to ministers of the Central Church Africa Presbyterian, and helps supervise some of the staff from the College on Aberdeen's distance PhD programme.
He continues to develop his interest in nineteenth and twentieth century religious movements, modern Scottish church history and the missionary movement in Malawi. In 2019 he was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Church History.
- Research
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Research Interests
Revivals, Renewal, Church Growth and Christian Ministry
I have a particular passion for the history of Evangelicalism and of revivals. I have examined how these 'seasons of grace' have appeared across Britain, and Scotland in particular, during the last four hundred years. More broadly, my interests extend to modern Scottish church history from the eighteenth century, and the history of mission in Malawi in particular.
I also have a keen curiosity in the spiritual renewal of the church today and its expression in new and pioneering forms of ministry. I supervise doctoral students who undertake research into new churches formed in Glasgow between 2000 and 2016, discipleship practices among missional churches in Texas, and the recovery of ancient practices among other neo-liturgical churches in America.
I maintain an enthusiasm for subjects that concern Christian ministry, including leadership, pastoral care, Practices, preaching and spiritual formation. My affection for these matters is informed by an appreciation of the richness of our long and whole Christian tradition.
My current research interests include:
Rev Dr Robert Laws, Scottish missionary and founder of the Livingstonia Mission in Malawi
The 1921 Moray Firth Revival
Billy Graham's mission in Glasgow in 1955.
Current Research
RECENTLY COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
Dr Paul Coulter (Northern Ireland)
Church and Mission in Four Aspects: Locating church planting within a missionary ecclesiology for the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church in contemporary Northern Ireland
Dr Stuart Sheehan (America)
The Changing Theological functions of Corporate Worship among Southern Baptists: What they were and what they became, 1638-2008
Dr Sheila Akomiah (Ghana)
The changing landscape of the church in post-Christendom Britain: New churches in Glasgow 2000-2016
CURRENT DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
George Weagba (Liberia)
A contemporary survey of narrative preaching among United Methodist Pastors in Liberia
Sara Blakeney (America)
Exploring Discipleship Models of Millennials in Missional Communities in Fort Worth, Texas: An Ethnographic Inquiry
William Hamilton (Northern Ireland)
Ministries of Reconciliation within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland
Winfield Bevins (America)
Renewal or Rejection? Exploring the Retrieval of Church Tradition Among Evangelicals in the United States
Rubens Muzio (Brazil)
Sanctification in seventeenth-century English Puritan pastoral theology
Nam Vo (Vietnam)
Spiritual Formation Practices and Youth Ministry in Vietnam
Brian Theu (Malawi)
The Impact of Witchcraft Beliefs and Practices on members of Church of Central Africa Presbyterian: A Case Study of Livingstonia Synod
Erin Crider (America)
What theological and practical resources might a conversational ecclesiology offer to church planters?
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
1. Undergraduate: BD
Scottish Church History and Theology
Scottish Revivals
2. Undergraduate: Theology and Religion Flexible Learning Programme:
An Introduction to Pastoral Care
An Introduction to Christian Spirituality
Scottish Church History and Theology
Scottish Revivals
2. PGT: MTh Ministry Studies: (At Aberdeen University and Zomba Theological College, Malawi)
Spiritual Formation
Leadership
Preaching
Christian Practices
3. PGR: Doctorate in Practical Theology
Literature Review
Publishable Article
Research Proposal
Reflective Writing
- Further Info
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External Responsibilities
- External Examiner:
Birmingham University (DPT Programme)
Union Theological College, Belfast (Practical Theology)
- PhD External Examiner at:
Glasgow University
- Membership of Scholarly Societies
Christianity and History Forum
Ecclesisatical History Society
Scottish Church History Society
Admin Responsibilities
Coordinator of the Centre for Ministry Studies
Coordinator of the Theology and Religion Flexible Learning Programme
Senior Personal Tutor for the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy
- Publications
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Publications
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- Jeffrey, KS 2018, A Vision of Pastoral Care. in H Um (ed.), Pastoral Care: Learn: Connect: Resource: Inspire. St Andrews Press, Edinburgh, pp. 12-15.
- Jeffrey, KS 2003, Making sense of the 1859 Revival in the North-East of Scotland. in A Walker & K Aune (eds), On Revival: A Critical Examination. Paternoster Press, Carlisle.
- Jeffrey, KS 2002, When the Lord walked the land: The 1858-62 Revival in the North East of Scotland. Studies in Evangelical History and Thought, Paternoster Press, Carlisle.
- Jeffrey, KS 2002, Work, Leisure and Revival: The integration of the 1859 Revival into the working and social lives of the townsfolk, fermfolk and fisherfolk of Aberdeenshire. in RN Swanson (ed.), The Use and Abuse of Time in Christian History. Studies in Church History, vol. 37, The Boydell Press, Suffolk.
- Jeffrey, KS 1998, 'Physical Phenomena in the 1859 Ulster Revival', The Rutherford Journal.